In language that will rile his political opponents, the Highland MP brands the Scottish Government “irresponsible” for setting only a 12-month budget and dismisses Ed Miliband’s claim that the Liberal Democrat leadership has abandoned progressive politics as “pathetic”.
The heat is on at the Treasury as the 38-year-old Chief Secretary and his colleagues weather the storm of the newspaper sting that entrapped his loose-tongued colleagues – most notably Vince Cable, the Business Secretary – and seek to thaw the British economy from the glacial chill of the economic downturn.
The walls of Mr Alexander’s office are adorned with scenes of his beloved Inverness as well as one of his political heroes – William Ewart Gladstone, four times Chancellor and four times Prime Minister, who left office at the grand old age of 84.
When it is pointed out to Mr Alexander that the Tory-turned-Liberal icon was said to have been able to persuade most people of most things and himself of anything, the whippersnapper Scot roars with laughter. He clearly has convinced himself of the righteous path but is losing supporters along the way, if the latest polls are to be believed.
“Most people looking at what the Government’s doing in terms of our overall policy are saying we’re doing the right sort of thing. It’s common sense if you like,” declares Mr Alexander.
He says: “It’s the poor who lose out when you lose control of your public finances.
“The very act of getting to grips with public finances is a progressive thing to do because, if you don’t, it’s the worst off in society who end up carrying the can for it.
“By taking responsibility, by doing so fairly, and by thinking creatively about how we change the way public services work, so that you try and ensure the outcomes people rely on from their public services are maintained, even when money is tight, that is the right way to go, that is a civilised way to behave, and it is very much, in a Coalition sense, a brand new Conservative-Liberal Democrat thinking.”
Asked if he has lost any sleep over the cuts, Mr Alexander replies: “With the hours I work and a few months’ old baby, the snatches of sleep I get are well taken. No I haven’t.”
Is his conscience clear? “At every stage in the spending review I was aware the decisions we were making were affecting people’s jobs, they affect the services people rely on.
“That was absolutely at the forefront of my thinking throughout,” he says. And by 2014? “I will look people in the eye and say, we’ve done the right thing for the right reasons and the country is fairer and more prosperous as a result.”
Among Labour MPs, Mr Alexander has become a hate figure – Harriet Harman dubbed him “a ginger rodent”, although she later apologised. The dislike appears mutual. When it is pointed out the Labour leader is wooing disenchanted LibDems by claiming the Coalition has hijacked their progressive tradition, the Chief Secretary bristles.
“Ed Miliband’s comments are pretty pathetic,” he says. “He’s got no policies, he’s not willing to say sorry for the mess Labour caused, he’s got no economic credibility at all.”
When the matter is raised of how Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, is drawing up a Plan B should the economic recovery slip back, Mr Alexander returns to his Gladstonian theme of financial discipline.
“This is the track. We’re going to stick to it,” he says. “It’s unavoidable this is what we need to do. If you want to be reassured, I will reassure you: we are going to stick to our plan. Absolutely.”
Treasury chief on fuel relief and student tuition fees hike
WITH political opponents complaining Scottish motorists pay the highest fuel prices in Europe, the Chief Secretary is confident Scotland will see a fuel discount scheme in rural areas. Yet he is less certain when.
“The first stage is we need to get approval at the European level. There is intensive contact going on between Treasury officials and the European Commission to work through that.
“That will take a while. I’m not going to put a deadline on it.”
Asked if something will happen by summer, he replies: “There will certainly be progress during the course of next year but when it comes in I can’t make a promise but I certainly hope it will be over the next 12 months.”
He stresses such things take time but notes how the action the Coalition Government is taking has to be compared to the previous Labour one that refused to look at the issue for 13 years.
“After six months we already have a plan. It will take time because we don’t only have to get the European Commission’s permission but the agreement of every member state. These things are decided by unanimity.
“But the fact you have a government that’s pushing this forward for the first time is a recognition that frankly this Government is more serious about those issues that affect people in Scotland, particularly in the north of Scotland, than the Labour Government was.”
But is he confident it will happen? “Absolutely.”
Meanwhile, Mr Alexander denies he has betrayed young Liberal Democrat voters on the issue of tuition fees and attacks Alex Salmond’s Government, accusing it of not investing in Scottish universities.
The Chief Secretary insists that the proposal for English universities is the “best outcome” the Coalition can deliver.
“I accept we have a lot of convincing to do. Do I accept this is somehow going back on the values I set out in the election campaign? Absolutely not. This policy is the best we could get under the circumstances.”
He admits the UK Government could have opted for a different approach.
“We could have said we’re going to dramatically reduce the amount of money universities have so that the quality of education falls away. That’s the sort of approach the Scottish Government is taking.”
